Luis Sepulveda is an internationally renowned writer and is universally recognized as one of the greatest contemporary intellectuals. Known to the general public for works such as “The Old Man Who Read Romance” (1989) and “The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly” (1996), his biography sees him actively participating in the most important political and social events in Latin America, his homeland.
He grew up in Valparaíso between the novels of Conrad, Salgari and Melville and a strong Marxist faith that led him to follow the political events of Bolivia and to be part of the personal guard of the Chilean President Salvador Allende. After Pinochet’s coup, in which Allende himself died, Sepulveda was tortured, imprisoned for years and only after strong pressure from Amnesty International released. He devoted himself to political theater denouncing the regime of Pinochet, the protagonist of the drama of the Chilean disappeared. He then lived in Germany, France and Spain, where he currently resides.
Luis Sepulveda has received awards, honorary degrees and awards around the world. Among the many, in Italy he was awarded the “Ennio Flaiano International Prize”, the “Grinzane Cavour International Prize” and, this year, the “Chiara Award” for Lifetime Achievement.
The Taormina International Book Festival will give him the “Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence” during the opening evening of the IV edition of “Taobuk” which will take place on 20 September 2014 at the Ancient Theatre of Taormina.
Luis Sepulveda
